<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[shattersnipe: malcontent &amp; rainbows]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://fozmeadows.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[fozmeadows]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://fozmeadows.wordpress.com/author/fozmeadows/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Unhelpful]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>I&#8217;ve been living in Melbourne a good two years now. I&#8217;ve made friends here, some of whom I see more than once a week, while I&#8217;ve lost contact (insofar as Facebook allows this to happen) with people back in Sydney. It happens &#8211; it&#8217;s life. We roll with the punches, grow and flourish as individual blossoms in the metaphoric Garden of Whatever, catch up where we can, move on when we can&#8217;t. It&#8217;s a healthy Goddam process.</p>
<p>So why are all the numbers in my mobile phone <em>exactly the fucking same</em> <em>as they were five years ago</em>?</p>
<p>I&#8217;m not even kidding. Tonight, I&#8217;m looking to call someone about the address of a party we&#8217;re heading to &#8211; we&#8217;ve been there before, but can&#8217;t remember the route &#8211; and what do I find? One releveant number. <em>One</em>. In <em>two years</em>.</p>
<p>It&#8217;s like being in the Matrix: I walk around, blythely assuming my ability to call anyone I know, only to take the red pill and discover that a <em>full half</em> of all my contacts are utter strangers. I mean, Colette? Who the hell&#8217;s she? Or Bren? Or Debbie? Or Emma? More importantly, why don&#8217;t I ever put in last names? Or, let&#8217;s go crazy, some form of <em>useful identification</em>, like &#8216;random chick I must&#8217;ve met at a college party, maybe she had brown hair and a weird laugh&#8217;? Because this is just ridiculous.</p>
<p>With the exception of about four numbers, the rest are work contacts for jobs I&#8217;ve long since left, friends from early highschool I see maybe once a year, and family: in short, numbers relevant only to my CV (where they&#8217;re recorded anyway), my life between the ages of 14 &#8211; 19, or which I know by heart.</p>
<p>Well, I&#8217;m taking a stand. Tonight, by gum, I&#8217;m going to do an overhaul. I&#8217;m going to find out the numbers of friends, and <em>call them</em>.</p>
<p>Eventually.</p>
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